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XxpengwynxX, I'm not even going to TRY and read your post. It makes my eyes hurt. Our sensei has a "fun" way of helping us remember our katas; especially for new white belts. We will do Heian Shodan one move at a time, after each move we drop, do a pushup, then stand back up in the same stance we were just in. It makes you really think about which position you are in and which one you are about to move into. I also find that visualizing opponents and understanding the application of each movement is very helpful. But the best piece of advice, and you've already heard it a hundred times, is to just keep practicing. Eventually you don't want to "remember" your kata; you want to be able to perform it in your sleep. Just try not to kick your wife in the kidney if you DO start performing it in your sleep. Wap

I definitely throw my vote in for Shotokan, but that's because I'm biased. Not sure about the great offense part though. I've always been taught to wait for the other guy to make the first move. "The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." Wap

Most of my washing seems to consist of gi's or other martial arts related clothing... Someone should invent the disposable gi. Wap

It's my birthday dinner tonight and I'm going out with my wife and our two closest friends to eat lots and lots of snow crab legs. Mmmmmm....snow crab.... Wap

Funny the discussion of push-ups has come up. Our senior instructor was just showing us the other day how he does push-ups. Nothing to do with the method, but he doesn knuckle push-ups. At first I thought "Yeah, so, don't most martial artists do knuckle push-ups at one point or another?" But then he showed me how I've been doing knuckle push-ups wrong. Instead of putting the weight on the back three knuckles of your fist (which is the most natural way to do it) you instead rock your fist forward so that you are only using the first TWO knuckles (the striking knuckles) of the first. Maybe everyone else here already knew this. Anyway, it's HARD and painful and really emphasizes which part of the first should be conditioned. He also likes to do the same thing, but rotates his fists inward as he reaches the apex of each push-up and then rotates the fists back again as he goes down. Try it. On hardwood flooring. Ouch. Sometimes he does a little hop at the apex of his push-up, so he rises into the air a few inches and then slams back down on his knuckles (again, just the first two). Really interesting. Good for conditioning I suppose. And really entertaining to hear the rest of the class try it (ouch, arrrghh, OWWW, that hurts!, owwiieeee, grrrrrrrrrrrr). Sensei just laughs. Wap

We don't mediate at all. We used to do the dojo kun at the end of each class that included a few moments (10-15 seconds) of quiet reflection on the class, but we haven't done that in over a year now. Occasionally the instructor will discuss mediation as a way to focus the mind and in turn result in better karate, but it's not emphasized. I think our karate union tries to give the students the information, or at least let them know that that kind of information is out there and that it MAY benefit their karate training, but they leave it up to us to decide. Wap

I've stayed in martial arts simply because I love doing it. There are so many aspects that draw me back to the dojo every other day. I love the health aspects, the fact that as I am getting a little older, I'm taking care of my body and staying healthy. I love the things I am learning. Any sport that continually challenges me and makes me have to think and focus and train my body to be exact and powerful and quick is a good sport in my book. I love the people, the students, the instructors. Everyone is there to have fun and learn karate. It's hard to nail it down to one or two things, or to even find the proper words to explain it. I'm simply really, really, really enjoying taking karate. It's only been 2 years so maybe I'm still naive, but at this stage of my life I feel it is one of the best decisions I ever made. I feel great. And martial arts is largely responsible for that. Wap

I remember taking a basic karate, self-defence class in elemtary school that was only 8-weeks long, but I've always had a fascination with martial arts. I don't know if it's the "cool fighting" factor or what. Anyway, over 15 years later I noticed that a karate instructor had rented out the hall in our church to give karate lessons and I thought I would give it a try. There aren't many things I enjoy more than karate. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. I really like the workouts, the stuff I'm learning, the opportunities to share knowledge and insight, the people...the list could go on and on. I love it. I feel good, I feel healthy, I feel confident and I'm having a blast. Wap

Ramymensa, You salute your english teacher?!? Is this a culture thing? Wap

The "spiritual" aspects some people talk about are nothing more than "mental" aspects. As a Western society we have very little understanding, or patience, for things that are not tangible. We won't believe it unless we see it. However, if we think that our bodies are not tied to our minds in a HUGE way, we're kidding ourselves. Meditation, focus, concentration, prayer, breathing exercises, chants, etc, etc...the list goes on, they are all intended to bring untity with the mind and the body and the spirit. We're not just physical beings. You can be spiritual without being religious. And even scarier, you can be religious without being spiritual (that's worse!). Anyway, I find that the mental aspect of my karate training is just as important as the physical aspect. If I can't control my mind, I'll never be able to control my body. I know that sounds cliche, but it's still true. My thoughts....not yours... Wap

Some great responses! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts. I think we are all coming to one true conclusion: A person's reasons for taking a martial art, any martial art, should be determined by THAT person, before they go looking for a martial art. For someone in police enforcement or any related career, their goals as far as martial arts are concerned are already established and therefore it should be fairly easy for them to determine which martial art would suit them best. That's just one of thousands of examples. Everyone has their own reasons for taking a martial art. And although many, many people start taking it because they want to "kick butt", my theory is that the majority of those people (not all) will eventually realize that "kicking butt" is not why they STAY in martial arts, and more importantly, may not have been that necessary from the start. A 28 year old who says to themselves "I need to know how to defend myself" as the reason for taking martial arts should first ask themselves "How have I managed to live for 28 years without needing that knowledge?" Obviously there are going to be situations where people need to know how to defend themselves or others. I'm not trying to say that those situations don't exist. But for the most part, I think many of us will, fortunately, never have to be in a situation like that. The news tells us of horrible stuff everyday; attacks, muggings, rape, murder, theft, etc....the list is endless. However, if there were a news program that only focused on good stuff, I know they would have a lot more content. Sadly, most of the TV watching world finds bad news more entertaining. But that's a whole other discussion... Again, thanks for all your feedback. Wap

I find that funny, because I've heard it said a few times that jocks play football and soccer and baseball, while Geeks take Martial Arts. Martial Arts to me is pretty much the exact definition of the title. 'Martial' being the combative training with military roots, IE training with the goal of fighting in mind. And 'Arts', which is creative expression of who you are. Martial Arts is the way I use "fighting" to express myself. Though the expression I choose can greatly change what that "fighting" may look like, and even change whether or not you would actually call it "fighting". Yeah....something like that... Wap

Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon was just about the biggest waste of my time ever. Followed closely by the recent Ben Affleck flop, Paycheck. I actually liked Waterworld, even though most of the natural world thought it was a flop. And I actually happen to like most of Kevin Costner's movies too... Maybe I've been hit in the head one too many times... Wap

I posed this question on another forum about a year ago and got some pretty good discussion out of it. Give this some serious thought: If you were given the choice between receiving 1 million dollars OR getting a one-time trip to the moon, which would you take? There are great arguments for both, but which would you choose, and why? Myself....it's a tough call....but I think I would go for the moon. That's once in a lifetime. I'm sure I'll be rich one day soon enough. Wap

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've always felt that the bowing and formal displays of respect mean more when the person doing it understands what, when and why they are doing it. The fact that you didn't know or didn't hear or didn't understand does not show any disrespect and it sounds like the Sensei understood that. It would only be disrespectful if you blantantly refused to bow, or heard but ignored it or whatever. Had you known, I'm sure you would have shown the proper respect without question. And I'm sure the Sensei knows that. Of course, none of that makes it any less embarressing. If it's any consolation I probably would have done something similar. Only I probably would have yelled out "What?! What did you say? Hey! Who's that guy? What's he doing here? What did you say? Why are you looking at me like that? What's going on!? Where am I? Who are you? What?!" Wap

Thanks for all the great feedback gang! I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to read my rant, and that most of you agreed with it! Not that having you agree with me was my goal though. Delta1, I think you summed it up nicely. The combative aspect of martial arts can be very important, and I'm certainly not suggesting that the combative aspects be removed. I was mainly trying to examine the reasons we first decide to study martial arts, and the traits by which we measure the quality of those arts. I read so many posts (we all have) about "which martial art is best" and it seems like the ability to fight is one of the most often (if not THE most often) measures used to qualify a martial art's "bestness". At any rate, I really liked what you said about being open to both aspects of the arts, both the mental and the combative. There are millions of benefits to martial art training; I could never list them all let alone think of them all. Will martial arts make you a better "street fighter"? Certainly; some more than others. But should that be the main reason for continuing to train in the martial arts? That's up to each individual to answer for themselves. I don't need to be a street fighter. But I love being a martial artist. Thanks again everyone! Keep training and have fun! Wap

This could be a long post, but please bear with me. I hope I can get my point across in a way that you understand, but sometimes my thoughts and ideas don’t come out right. At any rate, please don’t take offence to anything I write; this is merely my opinion. I’ve now read numerous posts regarding martial arts and people’s reasons for picking one or another, and I always hear the argument about street-fighting. “I want to pick the best martial art for street fighting” or “My martial art is the most practical in terms of self-defence and being able to win a fight on the street” or whatever. I know not everybody feels this way, but there seems to be a consistent mentality around martial arts and street-fighting that leads many people to believe that the best martial art is the one that makes you into the best fighter. I’ve read discussions regarding full-contact training and heard people say that full-contact is the only way to go because it’s the only way to train for a real fight. I’ve heard beginner martial artists say that they only want to take a martial art that is the “truest” representation of real fighting. It’s like there’s an obsession with wanting to be able to kick anyone’s butt. But here’s my question: Is that what martial arts training TODAY is really all about? Or has martial arts training evolved as we have? Let’s make no mistake here, though. Martial arts are fighting arts. We all understand that they have their origins in learning how to defeat an opponent, and how to defend yourself against an attacker. Martial arts did not develop out of a need to learn something cool, or to focus the mind through the use of a set of predetermined moves (kata). They originated out of a need to fight, and win. And back then, they needed it. Do we really still need to know how to fight? Granted, knowing some degree of self-defence can be very helpful, primarily as a source of confidence. But I wonder how many of us are actually at risk of getting attacked enough times in our lives to warrant knowing how to “street-fight” effectively. Personally, I have never been in a serious fight. Certainly not one serious enough that I needed any martial arts training. But I’m sure some people have. However, I don’t think the majority of us have. So I’m speaking about the majority here. Does it make sense to train for 6-8 years in a martial art, 4-5 times a week, through rigorous physical endurance, just for the chance that you MIGHT one day get into a street-fight? Is that pay-off worth it? Maybe it is for some people. Personally, if that’s the only reason I’m training, I think I’m wasting my time, or perhaps training out of fear. Now I don’t think most people have this attitude, but I think there is an underlying (mis)understanding that taking martial arts is important because it will train you how to fight. Yes, it will, but is that the most important aspect? Should the MAIN REASON for taking a martial art be so that you can beat someone else up or defend yourself in the rare case that you ever get seriously attacked? Or are the reasons for taking a martial art more complex than that? Perhaps martial arts training is good for the mind, as well as the body. Perhaps martial arts training is a great social activity. Perhaps the techniques, kata, philosophy, focus, strength, endurance, and health aspects are more important than the ability to fight. Perhaps the ability fight is merely a by-product of the martial arts training. I think most people would agree with this. If we DO agree with this, then why is there this pervasive mentality that the BEST martial art is the one that makes you into the best fighter? Especially in today’s society where we DON’T have to defend our lives on a daily basis. Sure, society is getting pretty bad, with gangs and drugs and violence and what-not. But that is really pretty limited to the way things were 2000 years ago (or longer). Back then society and laws did not really protect a person the way they do today. Back then, you had to be ready to defend yourself or die. Today, your chances of getting seriously attacked are pretty slim (depending on where you live) and if you do, it’s more than likely that your attacker will have a gun; something martial arts doesn’t help a lot with since there were no guns back when the martial arts first originated. Now, having said all that, I’m sure I’m going to get an earful (eyeful?) of opinions to the contrary from people who train in ninjitsu or whatever martial arts focus primarily on fighting for the sake of fighting. The only point I’m trying to make, and perhaps doing a terrible job of making it, is that perhaps the “fighting” aspect of martial arts should not be the first, most important aspect of what makes a martial art good or right for someone. I’ve always believed that the first question someone should ask themselves when they think about starting to take a martial art is “What do I want to get out of it?” You need to be able to answer that question confidently before you’ll ever know what martial art to take, and long before anyone else can TELL you what martial art to take. And if your answer to that question is “Because I want to be an awesome street fighter” then perhaps you need to re-evaluate a few things. If someone with that philosophy approached Gichin Funakoshi 80 years ago for karate training, he would probably tell them to go away and come back when they want to learn karate as a way of leading a non-violent lifestyle. “Refrain from violent behaviour” I know that is a Shotokan karate philosophy, but it’s an important one. Maybe it should say “Refrain from violent intentions”. If your primary purpose for taking a martial art is so that YOU can be a violent person (when the opportunity presents itself), then maybe that says something. Anyway, I’ve rambled on far too long and I’m still not sure I’m getting my point across. I’m not saying that martial arts is NOT about fighting. If you think that’s what I mean then I have failed miserably in getting my point across. What I’m trying to say is that the “fighting” aspect of martial arts is not the most important aspect anymore. In today’s society, we don’t really NEED to train our whole lives for the small chance that we might one day be attacked and need to defend ourselves with our hands and feet. Rather, train for the physical fitness, train for the focus, train for the technique, the fun, the people, the confidence, the strength, the endurance, the style, the grace, the balance, the speed, the power, and the hundreds of other aspects of martial arts that are not about trying to kill or maim another human being. Do all that, and yes, it will make you a better fighter. But that’s just a by-product; a bonus. The end result is not a killer fighter. The end result is someone with honour, respect, integrity, and patience. Someone who knows how to avoid a fight. Someone who knows how to defuse a potentially violent situation. Someone who “knows when to walk away, and knows when to run.” I hope we all agree with that. Perhaps I have been biased by my Shotokan training. Perhaps I am biased because I don’t feel like my life is in danger on a daily basis. I’m certainly biased for any number of reasons. However, the next time someone asks me what the best martial art for them is, I will ask them what they want to get out of it. And if they tell me that they want to be an awesome fighter, I’ll tell them to join the army. But if they want to talk about style, strength, integrity and philosophy, well then the choices are limitless. Anyway, to the 3 people who actually made it to the end of this rant, thanks for reading. Those are my thoughts, not necessarily yours. Wap

I guess not. Wap

Also depends on what you want to get out of the style. I don't take karate so that I can be a tough street fighter; I've never been in a street fight, just pathetic hallway brawls 10 years ago in junior high. And I don't plan on getting into any street fights. I'd rather train for the enjoyment of the art, for the technique, the strength, the confidence, etc, etc, rather than train for the small chance that I ever get in a street fight with someone. At my Shotokan club we don't do full contact except at a special kumite class with full protective gear. I don't see the point in doing full contact unprotected. We're not there to hurt each other. We're there to have fun and learn karate, which is more than just hitting each other. And if I practice the philiosophy of karate correctly, I should never get into a street fight in the first place. Just my 2 cents. Wap

I typcially wear a baby-blue top with purple fringe, sometimes some pin-striping. The pants are some kind of plaid, maybe magenta or puce or perhaps a floral pattern if I'm feeling a little.... Oh wait....sorry, thought this was the golf forum for a minute.... Wap

My Sensei is also constantly stressing to the children in our dojo how important it is to not practice this stuff on other people. He gives the same advice; avoid conflicts, don't pick fights, run away if you can. However, he always follows that up by saying "But remember that you are learning a martial art here. If you have NO OTHER OPTIONS, remember your training." Obviously all kids are going to react differently in different situations depending on their attitude, maturity, etc, but I think Sensei is doing the best he can do with what he's got. Trying not to promote violence, but at the same time, ensure the kids can, and will, defend themselves if necessary. That is the point, after all. Wap

When we practice katas we usually do the first one by count, then another couple of passes of the kata at our own pace ("as you may!"). When doing full speed and power (as the kata should be done), I am breaking a pretty good sweat after doing 2 or 3 katas (3 times each). Does that qualify as "fast pace"? Wap

I actually start the Instructor's Course in my association, tomorrow. Although I'm sure I will be in that course for a few years before I'm ever teaching my own class. Maybe more than a few years. My instructor has asked me to start helping out as an assistant instructor, but I haven't really had to do anything yet except take over the class for a few minutes here and there while Sensei talks to newcomers. In the end I voted only for student. But who knows what the future will bring. Which brings up a another good question. I have only been training for a couple years (not even), and had always asssumed that I wouldn't be instructing until I had been a black belt for 5 or 6 years or longer. Maybe I should start a new thread, but in your opinion, how long should you be training before you become an instructor? Wap

I have no idea what any of those would be. How would you find out? Or are you just asking for people opinions of what those capitals might be? Probably a fairly objective question, but I'd be curious to know if a "Martial Arts Capital" exists, and where it is. Wap

I just graded for my brown belt about 2 months ago and I'm pretty sure my black belt grading will be much harder. Color belt tests are open to the public and our association generally has about 20-30 students grading for each color belt (many more at the lower levels). We had to do our kata (tekki shodan), kihon and kumite. The sparring was 1-step with a partner and included 6 or 7 basic attacks and defenses. Our association is family based so there is little to no contact in the main classes/gradings, which makes things much easier by the sounds of it. There is a special kumite class you can take that uses full contact, but you have to wear special gear. Anyway, the black belt gradings are not open to the public and they are done individually, as opposed to group gradings like the colored belts. The colored belt tests last about 15-20 minutes where a black belt test is divided into two sessions over 2 days. I haven't had to go through it yet, but it sounds much more grueling than the brown belt test was. Our association also has three levels of brown so I have two more "brown belt" tests to take. Maybe looking at all three together would make the brown belt test seem harder than black, but I'm still sure the black belt will be the toughest. Don't have to worry about that for another year or so at least. Wap